


a serpent on a bed of leaves in the month of may

by valery_snowflakes



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, come on a human child figured out your blatant crushes in less than seven years, how come it's taken you two idiots 6000, let warlock be soft and caring 2k19, nanny and brother love each other and are piss poor at hiding it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-21 05:22:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19996549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valery_snowflakes/pseuds/valery_snowflakes
Summary: And it’s not only affection and care, Warlock realizes, it’slove.Nanny and Brother might not yet realize it themselves, may be too dense to accept what clearly lies in front of them, or too stubborn to want to accept it, but itis.





	a serpent on a bed of leaves in the month of may

**Author's Note:**

> This started as me thinking Warlock didn't get enough recognition and somehow evolved into me writing an actual fucking story because not only is my boy Underappreciated but also Amazing and I'd die for him that's it that's the story thanks.  
> (Oh, well, I mean, feat Ineffable Husbands because those pining idiots ain't slick but _what else is new_ ).  
> Disclaimer: English isn't my first language so there are bound to be some grammar mistakes here and there. If you see them I would love if you could point them out to me so I can correct them!! Thanks in advance!!
> 
> Title comes from Of Monsters and Men — Wild Roses

Warlock knows Nanny doesn’t ever sleep in her designated room.

At first she tried to, he's sure of it. Nanny would always leave her light on all night, a faint yellow line shining from underneath her door from sundown to sunrise, and in the mornings she’d look dishevelled and a little grumpy for a few hours before regaining her regal attitude.

But Nanny Ashtoreth stopped sleeping in her room within the first seven years of her employment. Warlock realized this one night when he woke up for a quick midnight piss in Second Grade and didn’t see the illuminated space from where the door hovered above the floor, even though Nanny had made a point to always keep her light on all though the night for more than six years.

(Back then he’d just figured she’d grown tired of sleeping with the light on and gone back to bed).

His theory, however, had been further cemented when he managed to run into one of the maids while she was taking out the dirty clothes from Nanny’s room and discovered that the basket was only filled with covers and bed-sheets that looked too pristine to have been slept on recently.

No dirty clothes, not even a shirt or blazer.

All the staff members had their clothes picked up, washed and dried by the company his parents hired and then delivered back to the Mansion, which meant there were no washing machines in the building, which in turn made finding out Nanny had no dirty laundry even after little more than a week extremely suspicious. She couldn't have washed them herself, and she surely always wore clean clothes since Nanny never smelt like anything else than the flower perfume Warlock's mother had gotten her for Christmas some years ago and she continued to wear to this day.

What shocked Warlock even more was that, even with the particular discovery that Nanny didn’t sleep in her room, she never faltered in her job. Every day without exception she’d show up like clockwork and gently rock Warlock until he woke, threading her slender fingers through his hair as she lead him down the corridor and into the dining room for breakfast where Brother Francis would be patiently waiting for their arrival, table served for three.

Still, life didn't seem to like keeping Warlock on his toes.

The mystery of where Nanny went off to disappear during the night didn’t last long.

Spring Break had just started and Warlock had woken up unusually early on a weekend, internal clock used to having to wake up at the crack of dawn to get ready for school, and so he’d figured that venturing out into the gardens to see the sunrise from Nanny’s rocking chair and trying to see if he could make a flower chain out of the daffodils that started growing on one of the nearby bushes would probably be a better alternative to whatever he could come up with — namely going back to sleep or just binge watching Vine compilations on YouTube until morning came.

And _that’s_ when he’d seen it happen.

Brother Francis had a cottage within the house grounds, not close to the Dowling’s Mansion but also not too far away to not be able to see it clearly from the patio. Not that it mattered, either way, the cottage could’ve been on the edge of the residence for all Warlock cared and yet he would’ve still been able to pick Nanny out from between the greenery in a heartbeat, her fiery red hair sticking out like a sore spot and giving her identity away.

Brief as her appearance had been, it had been more than enough time for Warlock to see her. Nanny hurriedly stepping out of the cottage, clad in her nightgown and a soft-looking scarf, to pluck out some fruits from a nearby bush and hurry back inside.

She mustn't have spent more than a minute outside, but it had been enough for Warlock to _know._

And suddenly everything started to make a little bit more sense. Why Nanny didn’t keep her light on at night anymore, why her laundry basket didn’t have any real clothes, just plain old bed sheets. Why Nanny always seemed a little brighter whenever she suggested Warlock go play outside in the garden, why Brother Francis put extra care onto tending to the bushes that were near Nanny’s rocking chair so that they were always the greenest and with the prettiest flowers.

It had been to figure out because Nanny and Brother were always quick to hide their interactions, their shared inside jokes. Their conversations were short and to the point but no less meaningful, and if Warlock didn’t know better he’d almost say that they were ashamed of their feelings — but what is there to be ashamed of? They’re two great people who happen to be close and care deeply for the other, what’s so wrong with that?

And it’s not only affection and care, Warlock realizes, it’s _love_. Nanny and Brother might not yet realize it themselves, may be too dense to accept what clearly lies in front of them, or too stubborn to want to accept it, but it _is._

It’s embedded in the way they talk to one another, in the subtle glances, in the wide smiles that they both try (and terribly fail) to conceal. It’s present in how Nanny always makes sure to order two cups of tea and a big biscuit plate whenever she takes out Warlock to play in the garden, where Brother Francis is sure to be tending to the flowers, or mowing the lawn, or humming with the birds.

Love is the way Brother Francis keeps bringing Nanny potted plants that she always complains about but takes back to her chambers nevertheless, the way he always makes sure to pluck out the prettiest of flowers from the garden and offers it to her with a coy smile, even if Nanny bats away the offered hand with an added eye roll.

(Warlock knows she treasures those as much as she treasures the plants, though. He’s seen Nanny wait until Brother looks away to pick up the flowers from the patio and hide them in between the pages of books Brother never fails to have laying around to act as bookmakers, adding little Post-It notes to go along with them from time to time).

From the cottage’s chimney starts escaping grey-black puffs of coloured air, and the smoke carries up all the way towards the brightening sky, where the dark blue fades into pink and purple and gently warms Warlock’s face, like the embrace of Nanny on a particularly rough day or the feel of Brother’s hands ruffling through his hair that follows a lesson about empathy well-learnt.

Warlock can’t see inside the cottage, has no idea of what’s going on between the mahogany walls, but the chimney keeps smoking and that’s enough to let him know that both Nanny and Brother are warm and safe inside, surrounded by their love and in good company.

He smiles and blinks at the awakening sky before getting off the rocking chair and making the trek back to his bedroom, confident in the fact that Nanny will be there to gently wake him up in a few hours and asking him to join her for breakfast, where the table will be served with two cups of tea, a glass of orange juice and three plates of Belgian waffles.

And, who knows, maybe today Warlock will ask her to take him outside to play in the garden, sunbathe now that he’s free from school and needs not to worry about homework or after-school appointments.

(He can’t wait to see which book Nanny will tuck the daffodils into this time).

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it! If you liked this please do consider leaving a comment/kudos because they really brighten my day and inspire me to keep writing!! <3
> 
> If you'd like to follow me on a more personal note, I have [Tumblr](https://valery-snowflakes.tumblr.com/), [Twitter](https://twitter.com/ValeryHowlter), and a [Curious Cat](https://curiouscat.me/ValerySnowflakes) account!
> 
> Thanks for reading!! :D


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